My youngest dd has ovarian cancer which has taken my life in a new direction. Laura has always been a huge support to myself and her older sister so the changes have been monumental to our lives, and poor Laura is having a difficult time coping with the changes which is only natural. First, there was the shock of hearing the diagnosis after thinking that having a hysterectomy was the worst thing that was going to happen to her. Then there was the stunning news that she had stage IV which is the worst.
For the first 6 weeks after the hysterectomy, I was completely certain that she was strong enough to beat that cancer down, but after 15 weeks of chemotherapy with the resulting damage to her body, I'm starting to question why the doctors are putting her through that...poisoning her until she has no strength left to do much of anything. Her feet and fingers have nerve damage, her mouth has sores, her memory has been impacted and she's unable to sleep at all many nights. Can you imagine what her thoughts are in the middle of the night given her diagnosis?! But Laura believes in her doctors who said they could probably guarantee her a good 26 months if she goes through all of this so I have to be all right with it too. Supportive...that's me!
What I would really like to do is rail...rail against the lack of any kind of cure for ovarian cancer. The silent killer! Listen, they say, it whispers. Well at the beginning of the whispering should be a test...PAP smears don't work...why are women diagnosed so late that they can only poison themselves to knock those finally yelling nasty cells out? It's what doctors rely on, surgery (horrible if you're at child-bearing age) and then chemotherapy so strong that it cripples you...and you die anyway!
Do you know the color for ovarian cancer...probably not, but I'll bet you know the color for breast cancer! Why is that? Breast cancer is well advertised and all women know what to look for; it gets lots of money thrown it's way. A 20 year old on facebook has her friends and family wear teal on Tuesdays...her way for her loved ones to show support for her. So, wear teal on Tuesdays, I do. I explain it to as many people as I can because no woman should have to go through what these women are going through. They're alone with something incurable inside them...not fair at all! There has to be a cure...but where's the money going to come from?
So yes, I hope for a cure. As long as Laura is alive I will.
That's what's been happening in my life but I'm still quilting when I can. Laura's sister and I are making a quilt to auction off in the next month or so; I'll write a bit about that next time. Cancer is not only nasty, it's really expensive!
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